Zoe’s World: The Festival Was Far From Perfect, But It’s Still Vital To Town

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THE Rose of Tralee has received a lot of bad press over the last week – and a lot of it, I have to agree with.

I think the annihilation of the poor hopeful girls on the RTE TV documentary was heartbreaking and completely unnecessary. I think that the Sydney Rose should not have to immediately assume that she is out of the running just because she has the audacity to express a very topical opinion.

Nor do I believe that it should be a ‘Kate Middleton competition’ or a glorified ‘Lovely Girls’ festival.

But that does not mean that I want to get rid of it all together. Actually the total opposite.

Continued below…

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Some people may not realise the importance of having such a huge festival in our town every year. Many towns just like us would sell the clothes off their back just to be given the opportunity to host such a internationally recognised event.

Just because it’s technically a ‘local’ event, because we are from here, does not belittle its importance. Just because it’s not held in Dublin, does not mean that it should be cast aside.

You would be surprised how many people cast aside these truths. We are so lucky to have an event that brings in tourism and revenue into our town; a town that very much needs this kind of support. Local shops and local business people need it to actually stay afloat.

That, unfortunately, does not negate the fact that this year, there were more slip-ups than can be deemed acceptable. For the people that do accept how important the festival is, they dedicate a lot of time to the running of it all.

People and councils hand over vast quantities of cash to try and guarantee that everyone can get the best from it all. Now, where did that go wrong?

Many would say that there was not enough street entertainment going on, and that having to pay into the square to see a band play was borderline mad. Especially since those who didn’t pay still managed to have access to the event. Then, the bar collapsing in the Dome on the last night was far from ideal.

So what is there to say now? I do not wish to bash the festival, as I respect it’s power and impact. But for something that has such a weighty significance for our town, it needs to adapt to the times and not succumb to greed or recklessness.

It’s 2016 – people being able to toss around words like ‘cheap reality show’ or ‘lovely girls competition’ shouldn’t be a thing.